Confer & Collaborate

Editorial:-
Thirty-eight years as part of India, Sikkim has now clearly reached a stage where none of its problems - be they political or societal - can really be tackled piecemeal. An integrated approach is an overwhelming imperative for the task. By an integrated approach, one means an approach which should have always been the standard approach – the one involving policy-makers, the executive arm, law enforcement agencies, grassroots representatives and lay people, all engaging at an equal footing and not talking and implementing across hierarchies. Consensus should be pursued in earnest and delivery on ground should be without compromise. Sikkim now needs an administrative outlook which does more than just snuff out the odd bush fire and political philosophy needs to address the problems of society in the real sense. The stress of reckless consumerism and unbridled corruption is now telling and the strain is clearly nearing breaking point. Sikkim and its people need to close ranks and simply say, “enough”. But before that, as this section has often argued, Sikkim, and its people, need to accept that they face a problem. Once that is accepted, the enormity of the situation will sink in quickly as well and then the push back can begin. It is clear that there is near unanimous agreement that some things need addressing, but what rankles is that this comes in the form of acceptance and only the very superficial expressions of shock. A society that has lost its collective conscience is the most unstable. Sikkim needs to shake off its lethargy. There are still too many who will prefer excuses over involvement and ignore engagement on the pretence that the problem is too big. Take corruption for instances, there are too many “tainted” leaders, bureaucrats, social workers moving around with confidence and attitude. They feed on the indifference of the society too numbed to express itself. A “raid” is considered more an act of “victimisation” than at least some action even when it uncovers obscene amounts of disproportionate wealth. While it is true that only those who have fallen out of favour get “raided,” it still does not take away from the fact that they could be corrupt. It is not enough to say that a corrupt bureaucrat/ politician is unjustly harrassed while others in the same boat walk free. What one must consider is that even their time will come. No corrupt mind can remain in favour for always. And corruption is not even the biggest problem infecting the Sikkimese society – that position is occupied by addiction and suicides. Unfortunately, while corruption received the occasional attention even if via “victimization”, suicides and addiction [which is different from peddling] eat away without even this occasional attention…